Ten sentenced of online harassment targeting Brigitte Macron

A Paris court has ruled against ten people for perpetrating the cyber-bullying of Brigitte Macron, the partner of France's leader, Emmanuel Macron.

The those on trial faced charges of disseminating fabrications regarding her sex and sexual orientation, in addition to making defamatory statements about the couple's age disparity of 24 years.

The court issued conditional custodial sentences of a maximum of eight months to the convicted individuals. The detailed judgment has still to be made public.

A circulating false narrative alleging that Brigitte Macron is a person assigned male at birth has spread widely since her husband's initial election in 2017.

This latest legal outcome in France is concurrent with the Macrons initiating a defamation lawsuit in the United States against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who has also voiced analogous false narratives about the first lady's gender.

Their legal filing states that Owens brushed aside any factual proof contradicting her allegations opting to give a platform to established defamers.

Owens has often echoed these assertions on her show and online platforms, and in March 2024 stated that she would bet her whole career on her conviction that Mrs. Macron is biologically male.

Brigitte Macron first met her current spouse when she was a teacher at his secondary school.

The couple entered into matrimony in 2007, when the future French president was 29 and she was 54.